UCLA Premed: Requirements, Acceptance Rate, and How to Succeed
Everything you need to know to navigate UCLA premed, including UCLA premed requirements and extracurriculars, the best premed major, and the UCLA premed acceptance rate
Is UCLA good for premed? From navigating prerequisites and extracurriculars to UCLA's quarter system and a wide range of majors to choose from, Dr. Shemmassian explains the key factors to consider when determining if becoming a UCLA premed is the best fit for your medical school aspirations.
What You'll Learn
Premed Requirements
The specific course sequences for science, math, and writing that fulfill medical school admission expectations at UCLA.
Multi-Year Timeline Planning
Strategies for balancing pre-health prerequisites, major requirements, and MCAT preparation across the quarter system.
GPA Protection Strategies
Practical habits to navigate curved weed-out classes by leveraging office hours, study groups, and course reviews.
Choosing the Ideal Major
How to weigh traditional life science majors against non-science options without compromising admissions success.
Extracurricular Success
How to utilize UCLA’s hospital system, research portals, and student organizations to gain clinical and research experience.
Admissions Statistics
How UCLA applicants perform in medical school admissions compared to national trends and GPA/MCAT expectations.
Tailored Application Strategies
Guidance on securing recommendation letters, deciding on gap years, and standing out among a large peer cohort.
Is UCLA good for premed?
UCLA premed quick facts
How do you maintain a high GPA as a UCLA premed?
What’s the best premed major at UCLA?
Should you join a cluster as a UCLA premed?
When should you take the MCAT as a UCLA premed?
What extracurriculars should you do as a UCLA premed?
UCLA vs. Berkeley for premed: which is better?
Can transfer students succeed as UCLA premeds?
Getting into medical school from UCLA
Frequently asked questions
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Is UCLA good for premed?
It’s easy to feel like everyone is a premed at UCLA. And that’s no accident. UCLA routinely produces over 1,000 medical school applicants each year, the most of any school in the U.S.
There are good reasons for this abundance of aspiring physicians. UCLA boasts top-notch academics and research opportunities, hundreds of premed organizations and programs, and a hospital system ranked #1 in California and #3 in the nation, making it one of the best premed schools in California.
And while 1,000+ medical school applicants annually is a lot, remember that these applicants are seniors or even alumni. In contrast, it’s safe to say that the number of premeds in any given class of UCLA freshmen is significantly higher. This begs a couple questions: Why? What happens during those four years that winnows out so many premeds?
There are a few common factors. With tons of premeds on campus, it can be easy to feel lost among the stiff competition and large class sizes. You might also feel overwhelmed by the prospects of fulfilling your premed requirements, picking your major, participating in the right extracurriculars, taking the MCAT, and everything else that goes into the grueling process of getting into medical school.
On top of this, it’s hard to earn good grades in the required premed science courses, so many students just don’t perform well enough to have a decent shot of earning a medical school acceptance. An unfortunate reality of UCLA premed life is that many simply don’t make it through to the end.
We’ve created this guide to help ensure that you’re one of the premeds that does make it. Below, we’ll discuss everything you need to navigate, from course selection to shadowing and research opportunities to on-campus resources. We’ve also dug up relevant admissions statistics so you can understand how UCLA premeds tend to fare as they apply to medical school and how you can put your best foot forward as a medical school applicant from UCLA.
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UCLA premed quick facts
| UCLA Premed Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| UCLA applicants to med school per year | |
| UCLA premed acceptance rate to med school | |
| National acceptance rate | |
| Average MCAT of accepted UCLA premeds | |
| Average GPA of accepted UCLA premeds | |
| Most popular premed major | |
| Premed and/or prehealth advising available? | |
| Committee letter offered? | |
| Academic system |
UCLA premed course requirements
First thing’s first: what classes do you need to take as a UCLA premed?
UCLA provides a recommended course of study for pre-health students, highlighting specific courses that fulfill each category, as well as relevant prerequisites. While academic requirements can differ slightly between various medical schools, the following should be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of just about any school.
| Biology: One year with lab | Life Sciences 7A, 7B, and 7C + 23L | Life Sciences 107 | ||||
| General chemistry: One year with lab | One of the following: Chemistry 14A, 14B, and 14BL Chemistry 20A, 20B, and 20L |
Chemistry 30AL | ||||
| Organic chemistry: One year with lab | One of the following: Chemistry 14C, 14CL, and 14D Chemistry 30A, 30BL, and 30B |
Chemistry 30C | ||||
| Biochemistry: One course | Chemistry 153A | Chemistry 153L | ||||
| Math: One year | One of the following: Math 3A, 3B, and 3C Math 31A, 31B, and 32A Life Sciences 30A, 30B, and 40 or Statistics 13 |
Statistics 10 and 12 Program in Computing 10A Biostatistics 100A and 110A Biomathematics 110, 160, and 170A |
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| Physics: One year with lab | One of the following: Physics 5A, 5B, and 5C Physics 6A, 6B, and 6C Physics 1A, 1B, and 1C Plus: Physics 4AL and 4BL* |
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| College-level English/writing: One year | 3 English, Comparative Literature, or “W” courses | |||||
| Courses helpful for MCAT prep: | Psychology 10 Sociology 1 |
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Sample UCLA premed two-year course plan
There are a variety of ways to tackle your premed requirements. You’ll notice that certain requirements above, like biology and biochemistry, are fulfilled through a specific series of courses that all premeds take. Other requirements, like math, chemistry, and physics, have multiple course sequences from which you can choose. All are acceptable for medical school admissions, but your options will vary depending on your major.
For example, say you major in chemistry. You’d be required to take the Math 31 series, along with the Chemistry 20 and 30 series and the Physics 1 series. On the other hand, if you major in biology, you could take those same courses, but you also might opt for the versions specifically designed for life sciences majors: the Life Sciences 30 series to take care of math, plus the Chemistry 14 and Physics 5 series.
So, when planning out your courses, you’ll want to think about:
Requirements for your major, which may or may not overlap with premed courses
General Education requirements
Courses for your cluster, if you decide to enroll in one (more on that later)
Prerequisites for certain premed courses, which can be found in the pre-health recommendations sheet linked above and in course descriptions
When you want to take the MCAT (e.g. if you’re taking a gap year, you might take the MCAT later in your college career and thus will have more time to get through necessary courses)
The relative ease and difficulty of each course (we’ll discuss this in detail shortly)
UCLA provides handy four-year sample course plans for common majors. In addition, here’s one way that you might distribute your premed requirements during your first two years, assuming you’re going straight through to med school and want to take the MCAT by the fall of your junior year:
| Freshman Fall | Chemistry 14A Math 3A English/writing course |
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| Freshman Winter | Chemistry 14B Math 3B English/writing course |
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| Freshman Spring | Chemistry 14C Math 3C Psychology 10 |
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| Sophomore Fall | Life Science 7A Chemistry 14BL Physics 5A English/writing course |
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| Sophomore Winter | Life Science 7B Chemistry 14CL Physics 5B Sociology 1 |
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| Sophomore Spring | Life Science 7C Life Science 23L Chemistry 14D Physics 5C |
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| Sophomore–Junior Summer | Chemistry 153A | |||||
Which course series should you take?
One thing that trips up new UCLA premeds is that several requirements can be fulfilled through more than one course series, and the series you choose has real consequences for your GPA, your MCAT prep, and even your letters of recommendation. Medical schools accept any of the valid series equally, so this isn't about which looks more impressive on a transcript but about which sets you up to succeed. Here's how to think through the most common choices:
General and organic chemistry: the 14 series vs. the 20/30 series. The Chem 14 series is designed for life sciences students and is the more common path for premeds. The Chem 20 and 30 series is more rigorous and in-depth, and is typically taken by chemistry, engineering, and other physical science majors whose programs require it. Both fully satisfy medical school requirements, so unless your major mandates the 20/30 series, most premeds are well served by the 14 series since it covers what you need for both med school prerequisites and the MCAT without the added intensity. Choose the 20/30 series if your major requires it or because you have a genuine interest in deeper chemistry, not out of a belief that it will impress adcoms.
Physics: the 5 series vs. the 6 series vs. the 1 series. Physics 5 is algebra-based and is the friendlier, more common choice for premeds and life sciences majors. Physics 6 is calculus-based, more demanding, and generally taken by students whose majors require calculus-based physics. Physics 1 is another calculus-based option. For MCAT purposes, algebra-based Physics 5 covers what you need, so the calculus-based series offers no admissions or exam advantage for most premeds. Take the calculus-based series if your major requires it. Otherwise, Physics 5 is the sensible default.
Math: aligning your series with your major. Your math path depends heavily on your major. Life sciences majors often take the Life Sciences 30 series (30A, 30B, and 40), which is tailored to biology students and doubles as a way to satisfy the math requirement efficiently. Other students take the Math 3 series (the life-sciences calculus track) or the Math 31 series (the standard calculus track taken by physical science and engineering majors). All are acceptable for medical school, so the goal is to choose the series that fits your major's requirements so you're not taking extra, unnecessary math.
How to decide. A few principles apply across all of these choices:
Let your major lead. If your major requires a specific series, that decision is already made, so take it and let it satisfy your premed requirement at the same time. The worst outcome is taking two overlapping series because you didn't check.
Don't chase "rigor" for its own sake. Medical schools care far more about a strong GPA and completed prerequisites than about whether you took the harder version of a course. As we noted above, an unnecessarily difficult course load is a common way premeds damage their GPA without any admissions payoff.
Think about your MCAT timeline. All of the recommended series cover the science which the MCAT tests, but make sure the series you choose keeps you on track to finish your key prerequisites, especially biochemistry, before you sit for the exam.
Do your research on specific professors. Within any series, the instructor matters. Use resources like Bruinwalk to see which professors and quarters tend to be more manageable, and plan your sequence accordingly.
When a requirement offers a choice of series, default to the life-sciences-oriented option (Chem 14, Physics 5, and the math series your major points you to) unless your major requires otherwise. This option satisfies every medical school prerequisite, prepares you fully for the MCAT, and gives you the best shot at protecting your GPA.
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How do you maintain a high GPA as a UCLA premed?
We don’t have to tell you that UCLA is known for its rigorous academics, a fact that can make it challenging to maintain a high GPA, especially in the sciences. Many STEM classes at UCLA are graded on a curve, making it more difficult to earn As, whereas courses in other disciplines tend to be evaluated using a straight scale. Many of these tough science courses are known as “weeders,” because students who don’t do well in them are effectively weeded out of the premed track.
On top of this, many students receive low or middling grades freshman year due to the challenges of adjusting to college and not yet having good study habits in place.
Given how much weight your GPA holds when applying to medical school, it’s no surprise that a low GPA (sub-3.5, in most cases) is one of the most common reasons why many UCLA premeds eventually give up on becoming a doctor.
To avoid that fate, here is some guidance to help you keep your GPA afloat:
Expect to study hard! Even if you didn’t need to put in a ton of effort to excel in high school, that won’t be the case as a UCLA premed.
Go to office hours and TA sessions. It’s important to seek out help from your instructors if you don’t understand the course material. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that you’ll fall behind.
Join a premed study group. If you can’t find one to join, create one.
Plan in advance which courses you’ll take which semester, making sure that the most challenging classes are spaced out. UCLA’s Reddit community and Bruinwalk (similar to Rate My Professor) are good resources to research specific courses and professors. You can also talk to older premeds about what to expect from different classes.
Consider taking classes over the summer to spread out your work load.
Don’t take an unnecessarily challenging course load. Being a premed is hard enough, so attempt to find balance outside of your required courses. Don’t get us wrong—we are certainly in favor of pushing yourself academically. That said, medical school adcoms will be much more concerned with the strength of your GPA and whether you’ve met their prerequisites than with exactly whichcourses you took to meet them and how difficult those classes were.
Choose clusters carefully. We’ll discuss this more in just a moment.
Make use of test banks. UCLA’s Student Activities Center has a bank of midterms and finals given in certain courses. You can print out these resources to use as study material for exams.
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What’s the best premed major at UCLA?
Generally speaking, there’s no universal best major for premeds. Contrary to what you might think, majoring in biochemistry over art history has little statistical advantage when it comes to getting into medical school.
That said, there are certain majors that are much more commonfor premeds than others. Unsurprisingly, the biological sciences take the cake nationally when it comes to the largest numbers of medical school applicants and matriculants.
At UCLA, psychobiology is known as the most popular premed major for two primary reasons: its pre-major course requirements closely align with the premed classes you’ll need to take anyway, and many people think it’s the science major in which it’s easiest to maintain a good GPA.
Other common majors for UCLA premeds include the following, some of which are notoriously tough:
Biochemistry
Biology
Ecology, behavior, and evolution
Human biology and society
Microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics
Neuroscience
Physiological science
However, there are also UCLA premeds who major in anthropology, sociology, English, history, and plenty of other non-science disciplines.
Choosing the right premed major really boils down to two questions:
Does it interest you?
Will you be able to maintain a high GPA?
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Should you join a cluster as a UCLA premed?
UCLA’s Cluster Program allows freshman to join a group of 200 students who take classes together revolving around a central subject (e.g., “America in the 60s,” “Frontiers in Human Aging”) for a year. Clusters can be great because they allow you to become part of a more intimate community and knock out a bunch of your General Education (GE) requirements, giving you more academic flexibility in later years.
That said, clusters can have their downsides if not chosen carefully. Since you’ll be studying one subject for a year, you’ll want to make sure it’s a topic that genuinely compels you. Participating in a cluster also restricts your ability to choose classes one-by-one. You can technically leave a cluster after the first or second quarter and still get GE credits for the courses you completed, but finishing out the year nets you your Writing II credit plus another “bonus” GE credit, so it’s typically worth it to stay the course.
On top of that, it’s essential that the GEs you fulfill through your cluster do not overlap with the GEs you’ll fulfill through your major; otherwise, you’ll end up taking extra classes in order to meet all the requirements. For example, if you’re in a science major, an ideal cluster would be one based in the humanities.
As a premed, you’ll also want to make sure that your cluster courses won’t interfere with your ability to keep your GPA up and do well in your premed courses. Certain clusters have reputations for being more demanding than others, so do your research. It’s certainly not necessary to participate in a cluster, and there are plenty of premeds on either route.
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When should you take the MCAT as a UCLA premed?
The best time to take the MCAT depends on a number of factors, including which premed classes you’ve taken and when you’re planning on applying to medical school.
If you’re applying to med school straight through—i.e., you’re not planning on a gap year—we generally recommend taking the MCAT for the first time during the fall of your junior year. This allows you to spend the summer prior studying, andit builds in enough time on the other end in case you need to retake the exam.
And, most importantly, it ensures that you’ve mostly completed your required premed coursework, which is invaluable for MCAT prep. Here are the UCLA courses that are essential to take before you take the MCAT:
Life Sciences 7A, 7B, and 7C
Physics 5A, 5B, and 5C
Chemistry 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D
Chemistry 153A
We cannot stress enough that you shouldn’t attempt the MCAT without the above coursework, especially when it comes to biochemistry (Chemistry 153A). Although the fact that you only need to take one biochem class in college might make it seem less important than some of your other science courses, the reality is actually the opposite: biochemistry is one of the most important subjects to master for the MCAT, as it makes up about 25 percent of the C/P and B/B sections.
In addition, you might consider taking Psychology 10 and Sociology 1. The course content will show up on the MCAT, and the classes themselves aren’t too demanding. That said, plenty of UCLA premeds self-teach the material and still do well on the exam, so don’t stress if you can’t manage to fit them into your schedule.
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What extracurriculars should you do as a UCLA premed?
The good news about premed extracurriculars at UCLA is that there are tons of organizations, labs, and activities to get involved with. The downside is that actually getting involved can be very competitive due to the high number of premeds vying for quality extracurricular experiences.
For example, many premed clubs only take a select number of new members each year, and some even have extensive application processes to join, involving transcripts, references, interviews, and more.
This might sound discouraging, but rest assured that there are plenty of less competitive clubs and opportunities on campus and off that will allow you to obtain great extracurricular experiences. You can still throw your hat in the ring for the more exclusive clubs and treat the application process as valuable practice for the med school application process ahead.
Below, we’ve listed some of the most popular programs, activities, and organizations that UCLA premeds get involved with. This list is by no means exhaustive, so be sure to browse this list of student organizations and Bruinwalk for more opportunities. Furthermore, talk to older premeds about activities they recommend.
And while we’ve listed organizations with a medical focus, don’t forget that you can also volunteer elsewhere in the local LA community—think blood banks, homeless shelters, after-school programs, senior care facilities, food pantries, and more.
UCLA premed clubs and organizations
Below is a list of UCLA organizations focused on medical volunteering in either a clinical or community context:
You can also enroll in courses from the Center for Prehospital Care and receive academic credit while learning to be an EMT, paramedic, phlebotomist, and more.
UCLA premed shadowing
The first thing to know about shadowing as a UCLA premed is that UCLA’s on-campus Ronald Reagan Hospital does not allow undergrads to shadow doctors at their facilities, except as part as certain approved programs (we’ve included many of them in the above list). So, unless you’re accepted into one of those programs, you’ll need to look to other hospitals, clinics, or physicians in private practice to gain shadowing hours.
Here are nearby hospitals at which you can look into shadowing:
As we touched on earlier, it’s also a great idea to reach out to private practices and smaller clinics. Read more in our guide on how to shadow a doctor.
UCLA premed research
Some of the volunteer organizations we listed above, like the CTSI Research Associates Program and Bruin Beans, also incorporate research into their activities. If you’re looking for research-specific extracurriculars, options include:
Another great way to get involved with research is to become a research assistant in a UCLA faculty member’s lab. However, landing in these positions can be quite competitive and will likely require a bit of effort on your part.
There are three main ways to get involved with an on-campus lab:
Search for open positions through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities site.
Ask older premeds, especially seniors who’ll be graduating soon, if they know of any open positions in their labs.
Cold email faculty members who work in your area of interest and ask if they need any assistance. You might need to send out quite a few emails—try five a day until you get a bite.
You might also consider getting involved with research via your academics. One popular pathway for premeds is the Biomedical Research Minor, which requires you to conduct at least four quarters of research and write a thesis. You can also join programs like the Undergraduate Research Fellows Program and the Integrated and Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Program.
Find more opportunities, plus resources like workshops, on the website for the Undergraduate Research Center.
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UCLA vs. Berkeley for premed: which is better?
Neither UCLA nor UC Berkeley is universally "better" for premed. Both are elite public universities with excellent academics, strong research, and highly competitive premed environments, and students from both matriculate to top medical schools every year. The right choice depends on how a handful of concrete differences line up with how you work and what you want out of your four years. Here's how they compare on the factors that actually affect a premed.
Academic calendar: quarters vs. semesters. UCLA runs on the quarter system while Berkeley runs on semesters. This is a bigger deal than it sounds. UCLA's quarters move fast: ten-week terms mean midterms arrive quickly and there's little room to recover from a slow start, but you take more courses overall and have more flexibility to spread out difficult prerequisites. Berkeley's semesters give you more time to absorb material within each course and fewer final-exam periods per year, but each class carries more weight. If you thrive under a faster pace and like spacing tough courses across more terms, the quarter system suits you. If you prefer more time to go deep in each class, semesters may fit better.
Clinical and research access: This is where another meaningful difference lies. UCLA has a major academic medical center on campus, the UCLA Health and Ronald Reagan Medical Center, plus its own medical school, the David Geffen School of Medicine, which means shadowing, clinical volunteering, and faculty research labs are woven into the campus itself (though, as we noted earlier, undergrads can't shadow at Ronald Reagan except through approved programs). Berkeley does not have its own medical school or a major academic hospital on campus. Instead, its premeds typically build clinical and research experience through Bay Area hospitals, nearby health systems, and connections to UCSF, including the UCSF–UC Berkeley Joint Medical Program. Both regions offer abundant opportunities, but UCLA's are more concentrated on and around campus, while Berkeley's require reaching into the surrounding Bay Area.
Competitive environment: Both schools have large premed populations and rigorous, curved science courses. The "weeder" dynamic we described for UCLA has a close parallel at Berkeley, meaning neither offers an easier path. At both, protecting your GPA in the sciences is the central challenge, so don't choose between them expecting one to be a gentler premed experience.
Majors and flexibility: Neither school has a dedicated "premed major.” At both, you can major in anything while completing your prerequisites. UCLA premeds gravitate toward majors like psychobiology while Berkeley premeds tend toward majors like Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) and Integrative Biology. In both cases, the guidance is the same: choose a major you're genuinely interested in and can excel in, not one you think of as more strongly "premed."
Cost and location: For California residents, both are UC schools with comparable in-state tuition, so cost is rarely the deciding factor between them. UCLA sits in Los Angeles (Westwood) and Berkeley in the Bay Area. Consider which region's setting, climate, and nearby clinical opportunities appeal to you and where you'd rather spend four demanding years.
Since both are excellent, base the decision on fit rather than prestige:
Match the calendar to how you work: Weigh the advantages of the faster quarters and more course flexibility at UCLA or the deeper, higher-stakes semesters at Berkeley.
Weigh clinical access: Consider your preference for the concentrated on-campus opportunities at UCLA or spread across the Bay Area for Berkeley.
Visit if you can: The campus and city you'll actually enjoy living in matters more than ranking.
Remember that outcomes depend on you: At either school, your GPA, MCAT, and experiences will determine your medical school prospects far more than the name on your diploma.
For a broader look at how these two stack up against other options in the state, see our guide to the best premed schools in California.
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Can transfer students succeed as UCLA premeds?
Yes, transfer students absolutely can succeed as UCLA premeds, and many do every year. UCLA admits a large number of transfer students, most from California community colleges, and a meaningful share arrives with medical school in their sights. But the transfer path comes with a distinct challenge: you're compressing a premed timeline built for four years into roughly two, which makes planning even more important than it is for students who start as freshmen. Here's how to navigate it:
Understand the compressed timeline: A traditional premed has four years to complete prerequisites, build a competitive GPA, gain clinical and research experience, and prepare for the MCAT. As a transfer student, you have about two years at UCLA to do much of this, so the margin for a slow start or a scheduling misstep is thinner. The upside is that community college coursework can lay significant groundwork before you arrive, so the key is arriving with a plan rather than figuring it out in your first quarter.
Take strategic prerequisites before you transfer: How much of your premed sequence you complete at community college versus at UCLA is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make, and it involves a real tradeoff. Completing lower-division prerequisites (like general chemistry and introductory biology) at community college can lighten your load at UCLA and let you focus on upper-division coursework and the MCAT. However, some medical schools place weight on completing core science prerequisites at a four-year university, and UCLA's science courses are where you build relationships with faculty who can write strong letters. A common balanced approach is to complete some lower-division prerequisites before transferring while saving room to take rigorous upper-division science at UCLA. Whatever you decide, use resources like assist.org to confirm exactly how your community college courses transfer and which UCLA requirements they satisfy so nothing has to be repeated.
Plan your MCAT timing around the compression: Because your prerequisite timeline is condensed, your MCAT timing needs more deliberate planning than a four-year student's. If you completed substantial science coursework before transferring, you may be prepared to take the MCAT during or after your first year at UCLA. If you're completing key prerequisites, especially biochemistry, after you arrive, you'll need to sequence them early so you're ready to test without derailing your application timeline. Many transfer premeds find that taking a gap year relieves this pressure, giving them time to finish coursework, prepare properly for the MCAT, and strengthen their experiences rather than rushing all of it into two years.
Prioritize clinical and research experience early: Four-year students often build their extracurricular profile gradually. As a transfer, you'll want to start seeking clinical volunteering, shadowing, and research in your very first quarter, since you have less runway to accumulate meaningful hours and depth. The competition for these opportunities at UCLA is significant (as we described earlier), so apply early and widely, and don't overlook off-campus and community options in the greater LA area. If you built any clinical or research experience at community college, continue and deepen it rather than starting over.
Build faculty relationships quickly since you'll need letters: UCLA doesn't provide a committee letter, so you'll be requesting individual letters of recommendation, and transfer students have less time to build the kind of relationships that produce strong ones. Prioritize going to office hours, engaging in your upper-division science courses, and connecting with research mentors from the start. A professor who only knows you for one quarter can't write as compelling a letter as one who has watched you grow over a year or two.
Consider a gap year as a feature, not a failure: Given everything above, many transfer premeds find that a gap year is the difference between a rushed, vulnerable application and a strong one. Taking extra time to complete prerequisites, earn a competitive MCAT score, and deepen your experiences is a legitimate and often wise strategy, not a setback.
Transferring to UCLA as a premed is entirely viable, but it rewards early, deliberate planning. Arrive knowing which prerequisites you still need, when you'll take the MCAT, and how you'll build experiences and relationships quickly, and give yourself permission to take a gap year if that's what a competitive application requires.
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Getting into medical school from UCLA
UCLA doesn’t provide premed-specific advising. However, you can book one-on-one advising appointments through UCLA’s Career Center, and you can find workshops and events posted to the UCLA Pre-Health Facebook page. Pre-Health Services also hosts an annual pre-health conference and a graduate and professional school fair—visit their website for a full list of available resources.
Putting together your med school applications as a UCLA premed is the same as it is anywhere—you’ll need a strong personal statement, great secondary essays, your AMCAS Work & Activities section, transcripts, and letters of recommendation.
Regarding that last item, note that UCLA doesn’t provide a committee letter, so you’ll have to ask your teachers and mentors for recommendations individually.
UCLA premed acceptance rate and admissions statistics
How do premeds from UCLA tend to fare in the medical school admissions process? Let’s review the UCLA premed admissions statistics.
According to AMCAS, 1,272 UCLA students applied to medical school in 2025. Based on the most recent data provided by UCLA, 51.3% of UCLA premed students who applied to medical school were accepted, over 7 percentage points above the national average of around 44%. Successful applicants from UCLA had an average MCAT score of 513.7 and an average GPA of 3.7.
Where do these students end up? Although UCLA grads matriculate at med schools across the country, many understandably hope to stay close to home—9 of the 10 medical schools most applied to by UCLA grads are located in California.
And while the med schools that accept the highest numbers of UCLA grads—USC, California University of Science and Medicine, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC Davis—reflect this trend, the schools that accept the highest percentages of UCLA premeds tell a slightly different story.
The top five medical schools at which UCLA grads enjoy the best odds still include USC and California University of Science and Medicine, this time joined by Saint Louis University, Western Michigan University, and Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook.
Getting into UCLA Medical School as a UCLA premed
What about UCLA’s own David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM)? Lots of premeds understandably wonder whether their status as a UCLA undergrad will give them a better shot of getting into UCLA’s prestigious medical school.
According to the most recent available data, 1,071 UCLA premeds applied to DGSOM and 29 were accepted—just 2.71%. Given that the overall acceptance rate at Geffen is 2.8 percent, you aren’t more likely to get into UCLA medical school as a UCLA premed than you are as an applicant from another college.
If you do hope to stay in Westwood through medical school, know that the average GPA and MCAT score at DGSOM are high—3.81 and 516—so following the advice in this guide will be even more crucial.
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Frequently asked questions
Is UCLA good for premed?
Yes, UCLA is one of the strongest premed schools in the country. It produces more medical school applicants than any other U.S. university, its applicants are accepted to medical school at rates above the national average, and it offers extensive research, clinical, and volunteering opportunities through UCLA Health and the surrounding Los Angeles area. The main challenge is that UCLA's science courses are rigorous and often curved, so maintaining a competitive GPA takes real discipline.
What is UCLA’s premed acceptance rate?
In its most recent reported data, 51.3% of UCLA students who applied to medical school were accepted, which is over seven percentage points above the national average of around 44%. Successful UCLA applicants had an average MCAT of 513.7 and an average GPA of 3.7.
Does UCLA have a premed major or program?
No, like many universities, UCLA doesn't offer a “premed major” or a formal premed program. "Premed" simply refers to completing the prerequisite coursework for medical school while pursuing any major. UCLA does provide a recommended pre-health course of study and pre-health advising resources, but you can fulfill your premed requirements alongside virtually any major.
What’s the best premed major at UCLA?
There's no single best premed major. Medical schools don't favor one major over another, so the right choice is a field that genuinely interests you and in which you can earn a strong GPA. That said, psychobiology is UCLA's most popular premed major, largely because its requirements overlap heavily with premed prerequisites and it's considered one of the more manageable science majors for protecting your GPA. Other common choices include biology, neuroscience, and physiological science, though plenty of successful UCLA premeds major in the humanities and social sciences.
Does UCLA offer premed advising?
UCLA doesn't offer dedicated premed-specific advising, but it provides several pre-health resources. You can book advising appointments through UCLA's Career Center, access workshops and events through UCLA Pre-Health Services (which hosts an annual pre-health conference and a professional school fair), and connect with the pre-health student community. Because advising isn't centralized the way it is at some schools, UCLA premeds often supplement it by talking with faculty, older premeds, and outside advisors.
Does UCLA provide a committee letter?
No, UCLA does not provide a committee letter for medical school applicants, so you'll need to request individual letters of recommendation from your professors and mentors. As a result, it's especially important to build strong relationships with faculty so you have recommenders who know you well when application season arrives.
How hard is it to keep a high GPA as a UCLA premed?
It can be challenging to keep a high GPA as a UCLA premed. Many of UCLA's required science courses are curved and known as "weeder" classes, and it's common for students to struggle in their first year while adjusting to the pace and rigor. Since GPA carries significant weight in medical school admission, it's worth prioritizing strong study habits, seeking help from instructors when needed, and developing a strategic course plan from your very first quarter.
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Final thoughts
Getting through premed at UCLA is challenging due to rigorous courses and a competitive extracurricular scene. That said, the opportunities that abound are wide-ranging and top-notch, from academics to research to clinical experience. Plus, as a premed, you’ll be part of a large, welcoming community of fellow premeds all traveling the same path.
Study hard, plan ahead, and keep your GPA up. Before you know it, you’ll be on your way to earning your first medical school acceptance.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For over 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
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